1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-184526 includes first and second housings connectable to each other (called “male and female connectors” in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-184526) and a slider (called a “front slider and a rear slider” in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-184526) movably assembled with the first housing. A coil spring is incorporated into the slider. When a connecting operation is stopped in the process of connecting the first and second housings, a spring force of the coil spring accumulated thus far is released and the first and second housings are moved and biased in directions separating from each other, thereby preventing the first and second housings from being left in an incompletely connected state.
Further, the first housing includes a tubular receptacle into which the second housing is fittable, and an accommodating chamber capable of accommodating the slider is provided on a ceiling part of the receptacle. When the slider is accommodated into the accommodating chamber, the ceiling wall of the accommodating chamber is located above the slider and a holding portion (called a “butting portion” in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-184526) is locked to a holding receiving portion (called a “locking step portion” in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-184526) formed on the ceiling wall, thereby preventing a detachment of the slider from the first housing.
In the above case, since the ceiling wall is arranged to cover the slider from above, there is a problem of increasing a height of the connector by a thickness of the ceiling wall. Thus, although it is desired to omit the ceiling wall from the first housing, the holding receiving portion is also eliminated if the ceiling wall is merely omitted, wherefore a detachment of the slider cannot be prevented. This is an unfavorable situation.
The present invention was completed based on the above situation and aims to prevent a detachment of a slider while avoiding the enlargement of a connector.